Changeable indicia display device



2,974,433 *CHANGEABLE INDICIA DISPLAY nnvrcE Dennis P. Litzinger, 2800 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit, Mich. Filed July 14, 1958, Ser. No. 748,441

2 Claims. Cl. 404-64) My invention relates to a changeable indicia display device for selectively displaying various combinations or arrangements of indicia or characters such as alphabetical letters, numerals, words, arithmetical symbols, punctuation marks, pictures, etc. The device may be used as an aid for forming words in working out word games or crossword puzzles; for teaching spelling, vocabulary, pronunciation, foreign languages, arithmetic, etc.; or for like purposes.

An object of my invention is to provide a changeable indicia display device of very simple construction and of relatively few parts which can be inexpensively manufactured and very easily assembled on a low cost, high volume production basis.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described which is extremely simple to operate and to use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described embodied in a slide-rule arrangement of improved construction.

These and other objects are attainable by the present invention which is herein described, for illustrative purposes, as embodied in the slide-rule type of device illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a front elevational view of the assembly of parts making up the complete changeable indicia display device;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the holder, or frame, of the novel device and particularly illustrates the arrangement of slits formed thereon for receiving the moveable elements or indicia-carrying strips of the device;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along lines 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view along lines 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view along lines 5--5 of Fig. l.

The device illustrated comprises a holder or frame and a plurality of indicia-carrying strips 20 moveable within the holder for selectively displaying the indicia through one or both of a pair of windows 30, 40 formed by the holder. The indicia is in the form of characters to be selectively arranged in the windows, but it will be appreciated that other forms of indicia, such as those mentioned above, could be used. The holder 10 and the strips 20 are all made from flat sheet material such as paper, cardboard, plastic, sheet metal or the like.

The holder 10 is preferably rectangularly-shaped as illustrated. As shown particularly in Fig. 2, the holder is formed with a pair of inner elongated slits 11 and 12, a group of shorter slits 13, and an outer elongated slit 14, in that order from the center of the holder to the upper edge thereof. A second group of slits, similar to the first one but spaced therefrom, is formed, on the lower half of the holder and comprises a pair of elongated slits and 16, a group of shorter slits 17, and another elongated slit 18. The number of the shorter slits in each of the two groups 13 and 17 corresponds to the number of indicia-carrying strips utilized in the device. In the nited Patent 0 ice embodiment illustrated, twelve strips 20 are used, and therefore in each of the two groups there are twelve of the shorter slits 13 and 17.

The pair of elongated slits, 11, 12 and 15, 16 in each group, forms the window slots or openings and through which the indicia are displayed; and the shorter slits 13, 17 each receive one of the indicia-carrying strips 20 and restrict the movement of its respective strip to a path transverse to the openings 30 and 40 for selectively displaying any of its indicia through the openings. The slits 13 and 17 are formed in a staggered arrangement, that is each one is displaced from its next adjacent slit in directions both parallel to and transverse to the openings 30, 40. In the arrangement illustrated, these slits are staggered in groups of three wherein each third slit is displaced a total of three positions in the direction parallel to the openings 30, 40, but is the same distance from the openings in the direction transverse to these openings. For ease of assembling the strips 20 within the holder 10, these shorter slits 13, 17 may be formed with a slight amount of overlap. This does not weaken the holder because of the staggered arrangement.

With the above described arrangement of slits, it will be seen that the device can be assembled by passing each strip 20 through its respective slit 13 from the front or face side of holder 10 to bring it to the back side, then through slit 12 to bring it to the front side, then through slit 11 to bring it to the back side, through slit 15 to bring it to the front side, through slit 16 to bring it to the back side, and then through its respective slit 17 to bring it to the front side of the holder. The portions of the indicia-carrying strips 20 that are positioned between slits 11, 12 and slits 15, 16 will thereby be displayed through the window slots or openings 30 and 40 formed by these slits. It will be appreciated that the web portions 30 and 40' formed between slits 11, 12 and 15, 16 could be removed if desired.

Elongated slits 14 and 18 function to permit the indicia-carrying strips 20 to be assembled in a manner that will more conveniently permit them to be manipir lated for displaying the desired characters. For this purpose, these slits are formed between their shorter slits 13, 17 and their respective edges of the holder 10, and are coextensive in length and direction with their respective window slots or openings 30 and 40. Certain of the indicia-carrying strips 20 pass through elongated slits 14, 18 to bring their extremities, which are the manipulatable portions, to the back side of the holder 10, whereas others of the strips 20 do not pass through these slits thereby leaving their manipulatable extremities in the front side of the holder 10.

' This is particularly shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 which illustrate how the first, second, and third strips, respec-- tively, are disposed. Thus, in Fig. 3 the first strip 20 does not pass through either of the slits 14 or 18, so that both extremities are disposed in the front side of the holder. The second strip, illustrated in Fig. 4, passes through both of the elongated slits 14 and 18, so that both of its extremities are disposed in the back side of the holder. The third strip, illustrated in Fig. 5, does not pass through either of the slits 14 or 18 so that both of its extremities are disposed in the front side of the holder as the first strip. It has been found that this arrangement of successive strips having their extremities alternately disposed on the front side, and then the back side, of the holder enables the strips to be more conveniently grasped by the hand and manipulated.

The indicia formed on the strips 20 may be alphabetical letters, numerals, arithmetical or punctuation marks, complete words, or any other types of indicia that may be selectively displayed, formed, arranged or grouped by the use of this type of device. In the illustrated device, the indicia formed on each of the strips are characters, and each carry (starting from the top) the vowels a, e, i, 0, u; the complete alphabet a-z; arithmetical symbols; numerals 1-12 and 0, and certain punctuation marks. Interspersed among these characters are a number of blanks appearing as black squares.

The illustrated device is formed with two window slots or openings 30, 40 through which the characters are selectively displayed. This has been found advantageous in that it permits character strips having a large number of characters to be more efiiciently used. For example, the upper opening 30 may be used for displaying various combinations of alphabetical letters carried at the upper portions of strips 20, and the lower opening 40 may be used for displaying the numerals and arithmetical symbols carried on the lower portions of the strips. Also, the indicia displayed in the upper window may be directly related to those of the lower window; for example, the upper opening 30 may be used for displaying various combinations of alphabetical letters carried at the upper portions of strips 20, and the lower opening 40 may be used for displaying the numerals and arithmetical symbols carried on the lower portions of the strips. Also, the indicia displayed in the upper window may be directly related to those of the lower window; for example, the upper window could display words of one language, and the lower window could display the corresponding words in another language.

It is thus seen that my novel device contains relatively few parts of very simple construction which can be inexpensively manufactured and assembled on a low cost, high volume production basis, and that it is extremely simple to use. Moreover, the novel arrangement of slits formed on the holder for receiving and displaying the character strips provides a slideule type of construction of improved efiiciency.

While I have described my invention with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes, variations and modifications may readily be made in the described embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A changeable indicia display device comprising a holder of flat sheet material; said holder being formed with a pair of spaced groups of slits for receiving a plurality of indicia-carrying strips, each of said groups comprising a pair of inner elongated slits forming a pair of 4 spaced windows in the space between the groups of slits, a plurality of shorter slits extending parallel to but in staggered relationship with respect to said inner elongated slits, and an outer elongated slit on the side of each group of slits opposite to the windows and coextensive with the windows; and a plurality of strips formed of flat sheet material, each of said strips carrying a plurality of indicia for display through the windows of the holder, said strips passing through the pair of inner elongated slits and one of said shorter slits in each group and movable therethrough for selectively displaying the indicia carried thereby through one or both of said windows to form various combinations of indicia, the extremities of alternate strips passing through at least one of the outer elongated slits to separate alternate extremities, by disposing same on opposite sides of the holder, for ease in manipulation.

2. A changeable indicia display device comprising a holder of fiat sheet material; said holder being formed with a pair of inner elongated slits for receiving a plurality of indicia-carrying strips and for forming a window in the space therebetween, a pair of groups of short slits with one group disposed on each side of said inner elongated slits and with the short slits extending in parallel but staggered relationship with respect to said inner elongated slits, and an outer elongated slit on the side of at least one group of short slits opposite to the window and coextensive with the window; and a plurality of strips formed of flat sheet material, each of said strips carrying a plurality of indicia for display through the window of said holder, said strips passing through both said inner elongated slits and one of said short slits of the holder and movable therethrough for selectively displaying the indicia carried thereby through said window to form various combinations of indicia, an extremity of alternate strips passing through said outer elongated slit to separate alternate extremities, by disposing same on opposite sides of the holder, for ease in manipulation.

France June 27, 1956 

